Thea

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Thea in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Thea (the latinized Chinese name of the tea plant). Ternstroemiaceae. Tea. Woody plants; one species grown for its leaves which yield the tea, the others grown for their handsome flowers and foliage. Evergreen shrubs or small trees: lvs. alternate, short-petioled, serrate: fls. axillary or sometimes terminal, usually solitary, stalked, nodding; sepals 5-7, persistent; petals 5-7, rarely 9, stamens numerous, more or less connate below; ovary 3-5-celled; styles 3-5, filiform, connate below: fr. a dehiscent caps. with 1 large globose or ovoid seed in each cell.—About 14 species in Trop. and Subtrop. Asia. Camellia, differing in its sessile upright fls. with many deciduous sepals, is often united with Thea, but from a horticultural point of view it seems desirable to keep the two separate. The most important member of the genus is T. sinensis, cultivated in nearly all subtropical countries and in the mountainous regions of the tropics for its leaves which yield the well-known tea and are an article of great commercial importance. The other members of the genus are ornamental shrubs occasionally grown for their handsome white or pink flowers and the attractive evergreen foliage. They are but little known in this country and require about the same treatment as camellia, which see for culture and propagation. T. cuspidata, Kochs (Camellia cuspidata, Hort). Shrub, to 6 ft.: lvs. elliptic to lanceolate, thick, long-acuminate, indistinctly denticulate, glabrous, 2-3 in. long: fls. solitary, white, 1 1/2 in. across.; petals 6; ovary glabrous. China. G.C. III. 51:261. J.H.S. 38, p. 62, fig. 38.—T. drupifera, Pierre-Camellia drupifera.—T. curyoides, Booth (Camellia euryoidos, Lindl.). Shrub, to 4 ft.: lvs. ovate-lanceolate, silky beneath: fls. white, nodding, axillary, rather small. B.R. 983. L.B.C. 15:1493.—T. hongkongensis, Pierre-Camellia hongkongensis.—T. maliflora, Seem. (Camellia rosaeflora, Hook.). Shrub: young branchlets pubescent: lvs. ovate, acuminate, 2-3 in. long: fls. pink; petals, 5, obcordate; ovary glabrous. China. B.M. 5044. Var. plena (Camellia maliflora, Lindl.). Fls. double, pink. B.R. 547. L.B.C. 12:1134. B.M. 2080.—T. reticulata, Pierre-Camellia reticulata.—T. rosaeflora, Kuntze-T. maliflora, Seem.—T. Sasanqua, Nois.-Camellia Sasanqua. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Thea. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Thea QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)